17 going on 18
by Mie779
Summary: Will Liesl find love in America...? she is going to College where she'll meet new friends, she meets the Cooper/Quinn/Sully family... what will that bring her...? Love? (yes FYI: the characters from Dr. Quinn now live in the 1930s... I can do that... this is fanfiction ;) )
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Never done a crossover before… hope you get my "idea." ;) I wanted to write a love story for Liesl—that girl needed some love after what happened with Rolf—and the idea for the crossover may have come to me while I thought about my "abandoned" Dr. Quinn story—well, sort of—I'm still mulling it over in my brain, just need the extra hours to write that one, too. ;) So, for your information, I brought the cast from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman forward in time to the 1930s. **

**Chapter one and two are now beta read by LandoLady, thank you for the huge work you've done to this. **

Chapter 1

Liesl fretted nervously in the backseat of the car. Her mother and father sat in the front seat, looking mighty proud of the fact that their oldest daughter would start at the local college this day. She looked out of the car window and spotted a huge building between some large trees. She bit her lip nervously.

"Oh, dearest Liesl, stop worrying so much! You'll do fine and will meet many new friends, I'm sure of it." Maria's voice interrupted the young woman's thoughts. She had turned partially in her seat and looked back at her daughter and could see Liesl was a bit apprehensive about starting college. But who could blame her? They had only lived in America for nine months, and though her English had improved immensely over that time, she was still nervous about meeting new people.

"I know mother, I know. I just hope… well, you know… that I'll be able to make new friends," Liesl explained.

"Didn't the papers from school say you were to meet with a girl who will show you around campus and everything?" Maria said as she looked into the envelope she held in her hand. Pulling out a piece of paper, she continued, "Ah yes, a Colleen Cooper will meet you at the head office. I'm sure she is a nice girl… I don't think they would give out an assignment like that to someone who is grumpy and not easy to be around," she reasoned.

Georg laughed at this and said, "Your mother is right, you know, darling. Ah, here we are." He parked the car in an empty parking space and got out and moved around to open the door for his wife.

"Oh really, Georg, you don't need to do that, you know… I can… easily… well, get out on my own." Maria puffed a bit when she tried to maneuver out of the car with her huge belly in the way. He only shook his head in amusement and said to Liesl, who had stepped out of the car, "Only your mother can be this stubborn at eight months' pregnant." Liesl smiled at the sight of her parents, as the news of a new sibling arriving had been received with great joy by all her brothers and sisters.

"Thank you. You don't need to come in with me. I think I can manage on my own." She reached for the envelope in Maria's hand and then took her new schoolbag out from the back seat of the car, mentally getting herself ready to face whatever this new college life would bring her. As she looked back at her parents and saw Maria had tears brimming in her eyes, Liesl shook her head and hugged her mother close whispering, "Thank you, Mother, for everything. I'll be back before dinner, you know. I'm not going that far away." Maria nodded, but she still hadn't gotten used to the thought of their daughter now starting college.

Liesl had not wanted to go far away to college, both due to the fact that she had just recently gotten used the American way of life and the fact that she would soon be having a new baby brother or sister. She didn't want to miss out on that. So they had found a local college, and she was now a first-year pre-med student.

Georg pulled his daughter in for one last hug and whispered, "You'll do great, darling, I know. Go show them who you are. We're so proud of you." He kissed her gently on the cheek and stood back so Maria could embrace their daughter one last time. She was so overwhelmed with emotions she kept on hugging her; finally, Georg had to gently pull her away.

"Okay, we have to let her go now. We can't have her being late on her first day," he whispered with amusement in his voice. These past months had taught him that a pregnant Maria was an emotional Maria. When she heard the slight amusement in his voice, her head shot up and she narrowed her eyes at him, letting him know she did not see the humor in what he had just said.

Liesl laughed a little when she saw this, the love between her parents was obvious, and she adored them both. What trials they had had to go through, together, to be where they were now, had only made their family that much stronger. Giving them one final wave of her hand, she turned around and walked towards the main building. Almost out of earshot, she heard her mother starting to berate her father about how _not_ funny she found his remarks just minutes ago. Liesl smiled as she looked back and saw her father attempt to help her mother into the car again. But his wife, being the stubborn person she was, tried to do it herself but in the end had to give up and reluctantly take the proffered hand of her husband.

Liesl gripped the strap of her schoolbag even tighter as she searched for a sign showing her the direction of the main office. It was an easy find, and soon she stood, still a little nervous, outside the main office. She looked around trying to find the girl who was supposed to meet her, the crowd walking by her filled with students who obviously all knew exactly where they were heading. No one took much notice of the girl standing off to the side. Liesl was starting to worry that Colleen Cooper would not show up.

"Oh, hi! You must be Liesl, right?" an auburn-haired girl asked when she slid to a halt in front of her. She had obviously been in a hurry to get there in time and continued, "I'm so sorry for being late. We, the greeting team, had to listen to our dean's final reprimands and rules for, you know, meeting and helping new students get around campus. But I'm here now." The girl smiled warmly at Liesl and then added, "I'm Colleen by the way, Colleen Cooper."

"Hi, yes, I'm Liesl. Nice to meet you." She wasn't sure what else to say and reached her hand out towards Colleen. They shook hands and smiled, looked into each other's eyes, and Liesl felt a glimmer of hope that this girl could turn out to be a new friend.

Then Colleen started to list all various rules and other things she needed to know. She tried to keep up with it all—the girl sure did speak fast. Suddenly Liesl realized she had stopped talking as Colleen looked at her with questioning eyes.

Liesl stuttered in embarrassment, "Oh, I'm sorry, I… well, I'm not sure I got everything you just said… I… well, as you may know, I don't speak English all that well yet, and uh… well, you speak so quick. Sorry." But her worries were short-lived as Colleen exclaimed, "Oh no! I'm the one who should be sorry here. I forgot. You're from… from… Europe somewhere…" She looked at a piece of paper in her hand and finished, "Austria, right?"

Liesl nodded her head and explained, "Yes, we come from Austria. Bad things happened there, half of it I'm not even sure of, but our family needed to get out of the country, or the Third Reich would have split up our family." The sadness in her voice was obvious, and Colleen felt sympathy for the girl. She had heard the news from Europe about all the bad things happening over there.

"Yes, I've heard, and I'm very sorry you had to leave your country like that—it can't have been easy. I'll try not to speed-talk, and please let me know if there's anything you don't understand." Colleen smiled encouragingly at the new girl; she seemed like a nice and genuinely sweet young woman.

Liesl thanked her and then started asking questions concerning what Colleen had talked about previously as she tried to understand the way things were done in college. Colleen made an effort to explain everything, and soon the girls also started talking about things not related to school. They had made a tour around campus, and in between need-to-know information, they had soon shared some of their private stories as well.

She was still not comfortable talking very much about their escape from Austria, but Liesl did tell about her family. And when Colleen heard she had six siblings and one more in the making, she was shocked. "Wow, how can you have privacy with that many younger kids around you? I have to fight tooth and nail to just get some peace and quiet away from my baby sister and two brothers, and one of them isn't even living at home anymore."

Liesl just laughed. "Well, I guess it's hard, but honestly I don't want it any other way." Colleen nodded as she knew the importance of family sticking together.

"I know. However much my younger sister and brothers can be annoying at times, we've been through some tough times ourselves," Colleen explained and then told Liesl her own story of how their real father had abandoned the three of them when their mother had died seven years ago. Had it not been for a caring friend of her mother, they would have been split up among different foster-care families. Now they lived with their mother's friend and her husband, and a few years later the family got a baby sister.

The girls had spent the better part of almost two hours talking and walking around campus. They were now heading in the direction of the building where Liesl would meet her new classmates— Colleen was one year ahead of her and attended her own classes. They agreed to meet for lunch at the school cafeteria later.

Liesl felt much more confident when she walked into her new class. Her meeting with Colleen had been a great first start in making new friends.

The rest of the morning went without a hitch. Liesl soon found herself among a small group of girls, all eager to hear about her life in Austria. She connected well with most of them but especially with one named Becky. At one of the breaks they talked a bit, and when Becky heard who her "meet-and-greet" friend had been, she said happily, "Oh, Liesl, that's wonderful! I've known Colleen most of my life. She lives just across the street from my house. Let's meet up with her for lunch."

They found Colleen already sitting at a table in the cafeteria near one of the large windows, and she waved her hand when she saw Liesl. Her smile turned even wider when she saw who was with her, and she jumped up and hugged Becky. They hadn't seen each other all summer due their different vacation schedules. Both girls started catching up on everything that had happened, while Liesl tried her best to follow their rushed dialogue. It appeared as if both girls had had a little summer love interest, both almost jumping up and down with glee over this. Liesl smiled ruefully at their joy. It was not as if boys didn't interest her, but this past year had not gone all that well in the area of romance. The image of Rolf flickered through her mind, and she felt a lump grow in her throat. _No,_ she thought to herself, _I don't want to think about that boy ever again. I can never forgive what he did. First he broke my heart, and then he nearly broke my family apart._

Both Becky and Colleen had stopped talking and now looked at their new friend, who seemed distracted with her brows in a slight furrow, as if she'd thought of something unpleasant. Colleen asked, "Oh, sorry, are we speaking too quickly? It's just that…" But Liesl waved her hand and proclaimed, "Oh no, it's not that. Please do catch up. From what I can understand, you both have experienced something nice." She sighed a bit to herself, still somewhat deep in thought.

"So Liesl, anyone special in your heart back in Austria?" Becky asked with a sly smile, but the smile vanished in an instant when she saw how sad and hurt Liesl looked. "Sorry about that, I… we… we don't really need to know that. Sorry, please…" Liesl just shook her head and said, "It's okay. Really… I… well, I just don't really want to talk about it right now."

Colleen placed a soothing arm around her shoulder and allowed, "When you're ready, but only if you want to." Then the girls started talking about school and all the things they had to work on.

At times Liesl let herself drift away from the conversation, not that the other two didn't try to speak slowly, but merely because she had experienced so many new things this day. Her mind was filled with new faces, new information, and now she tried to organize everything inside her head.

Suddenly her eyes caught sight of a group of girls gathered around a young man. Looking closer she noticed that the man didn't seem to really want to be there, with all that attention directed towards him. That she found odd, as she'd thought all males loved being fawned over by girls. Well, the girls did seem rather fancy and snobbish in her view; they all wore the latest in fashion. Having been brought up in an aristocratic family herself she had seen what riches could buy. Her family didn't struggle by any means here in America as her father had managed to pull out most of his fortune before the _Anschluss_ and now worked at the Naval Academy.

The young man pushed through the group of girls, waving his hand in dismissal, showing them quite clearly he wanted to be alone. Finally they turned and walked away, all giggling like broody hens. Liesl followed the young man with her eyes. He had taken off the grey flat cap he wore and ran a hand through his semi-long dark blond hair. Then he rubbed his hand over his face and placed his cap on his head again. She had to crane her neck to keep him in view. When Colleen saw this she explained, "That would be my older brother, fighting off the endless line of giggling girls all wanting to be his next girlfriend. Can you imagine? My oaf of a brother…?" She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the faraway look on her friend's face. Giggling to herself she winked at Becky and whispered, "Think my brother got himself another admirer."

"Uh, what do you mean, admirer? What does that word mean?" Liesl looked with confusion at the now slightly snickering girls.

"Ah, well, that means someone who really likes someone, or looks up to someone," explained Becky with a huge smile.

When Liesl heard this she shook her head vigorously and stated, "I'm not interested in any form of relationship at the moment. I… I… well, things have been hard this past year, and I don't want to be hurt again." Both girls heard the pain in her voice, and both started to express how sorry they were for being so thoughtless.

Liesl smiled in return. It seemed as if she really had struck gold in the friend department.

"Well, for your information, Matthew isn't interested in any form of relationship either. He… well, he… lost his girlfriend to scarlet fever last summer. He took a year off from school, working at some ranch out West. We only saw him at Christmas. He took it pretty hard… She was a great girl, I liked her…" Colleen explained as she felt the lump rising in her throat; it had not been easy for her family when Matthew had gone away.

When Liesl heard the sad story, she hugged Colleen and said how sorry she was for their loss. Soon after, the girls started talking about various things in an effort to change the mood in a more cheery direction. Liesl cast one last glance in the direction where Matthew had left the cafeteria. Among the crowd of students she could barely make out his grey flat cap.

It seemed she was sure to have an interesting new life here. She had just made two new friends and had a feeling the year would bring many new experiences for her.

When lunch was over, the girls got back to their classes and later met up outside the main building. They said goodbye and hugged with promises to talk again the next day. There was a short honk of a car horn, and when Liesl turned to look she saw her father standing next to the car waving at her. Maria was sitting inside; it seemed she had given up on getting out of the car altogether. Liesl smiled and waved back, explaining to her friends, "Oh, there's my mother and father, see you tomorrow."

As she walked down to her waiting parents, she turned around, gave a final wave to her two new friends, and got into the car. She greeted her parents with a happy face and on the drive home retold everything, well almost—the talk about boys was left out.

Back at the school both Colleen and Becky had looked on in awe at what they'd seen. It appeared as if their new friend had a father who worked in the navy. He had worn a naval uniform, and her mother seemed _very_ young. Colleen leaned over to her friend and whispered, "Wow, did you see how young her mother is? How do you suppose that adds up with everything we've heard?" Becky shrugged her shoulders and said, "We'll just ask Liesl tomorrow. She seems like a nice girl, really." Colleen nodded her head in agreement and took Becky's hand and walked over to her waiting brother. Matthew would always drive them to school whenever possible, but all the way home the poor boy had to hear the girls chatter about some new friend they had met.

**A/N: I'm VERY aware of the fact that this story might not end up being 100% historically and culturally correct. I found out it was rather hard work being young in the late 1930s… :/ So please bear with me on this one. **

**Ideas for what young people could/would do together (ex when on a date or just being with their friends) at that time, will be much appreciated.**

**I do hope you enjoy this. The past 2-3 weeks I've been on a roll in the writing department. (Got my "Pirate Playtime" story done in about 2 weeks.) This chapter wrote itself in a couple of days, really. :) So, I do hope I get work done on the next chapters… and hopefully on my Dr. Quinn story, too.**

**END rambling… please review. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ah, yet another chapter. Well, I'm happy to be able to write again and would love to hear what you think of this little story I'm working on… **

Chapter 2

The next week was a flurry of activity for the new college student. Liesl tried her best to keep up in class, sometimes struggling with the hard parts due to the language, but with the help of Becky she managed to get her work done.

She had soon found a rhythm in her daily routine, getting up in the morning, helping Maria get the younger children ready for school, and if she was lucky she managed to get some reading done in a quiet moment in that early part of the day. But with seven children, those respites were few and far between, and with Maria's ever-growing stomach there were even more things for the teenager to do. Then school, where she would meet up with Becky and Colleen on every break and whenever possible eat lunch together. They talked with ease about school, life, love, and everything in between. Colleen and Becky had asked her about her family and how she seemed to have such a young mother. When they heard the love story of her parents, they sighed, both with dreamy looks in their eyes. They found the story _very_ romantic. Liesl just laughed at them—well, sure, the story was romantic, but it was her parents they were talking about!

Then Colleen told the story about her own "parents." When Colleen's birthmother had died it had taken a long time to convince social services that the children should live with their mother's friend. For one, she was still only engaged to be married. She was a fulltime doctor, making her free time scarce, and her fiancé was a self-employed contractor who built homes. But after much endless paperwork, they were granted custody of the three children. And within a few months their new guardians had been married, and three years later the family got a baby girl in their midst.

When Liesl got home from school she would try and help her siblings with homework while she studied at the same time. Then she helped Maria get dinner ready and after that assisted with putting the younger children to bed. All in all, Liesl had a full schedule on her hands, and she really didn't have time for much else. But she loved her family and wanted to play her part when the baby came.

Two weeks after she started college, she could easily find her way around campus. One Monday morning she walked alone in one of the hallways trying to get to her next class on time. Her mind was filled with details she needed to remember for the class, and she hugged her books in her arms. Turning a corner she failed to see the person walking in the opposite direction. Her books fell out of her hands while she tried to grab hold onto something to keep her balance. She toppled forward right into the person's chest and instinctually grabbed onto the person's arms, keeping herself upright. As her vision quickly scanned upwards she found herself inches away from a pair of blue eyes with eyebrows raised in surprise and amusement. Shaking her head, she moved her body away from him and realized it was none other than her friend Colleen's brother. Not remembering his name at that moment, she just stuttered, "Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't… Sorry, I…"

Matthew was surprised, to say the least, as he had suddenly found himself almost run over by his sister's friend. He recognized her from the times he had seen her with Colleen and Becky. He grinned slightly and said, "No worries… uh… Well, nothing really happened." For the life of him he had no idea what else to say so he scratched nervously behind his ear, trying to come up with something even remotely coherent.

"You're Colleen's brother… um, Matthew, right?" His name suddenly came to her, and she smiled widely at her own revelation.

He nodded his head and said, "Yes, that would be me and you're… Oh, I forgot your name. Sorry. Guess I don't really pay much attention to my sister's chatter about her girlfriends." He smiled sheepishly and hoped she didn't take it too badly that he didn't remember her name.

She laughed out loud and responded, still smiling, "Well, at times I don't pay much attention to my brothers and sisters either, and I got six of them…" He raised his eyes in surprise and exclaimed, "_Six!_ Wow, no wonder you shut off at times."

She smiled in return, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm Liesl, by the way." She offered her hand in a polite gesture, and he took it gently in his and said, "Liesl." He let the unusual name roll over his tongue, noticing it sounded slightly foreign. She saw his confusion and explained, "I'm from Austria. I don't think many are called Liesl over here in America."

He shook his head and smiled as he said, "It's been nice meeting you, Liesl, but I have to find my class now. I guess we'll see each other around sometime." She nodded her head as she smiled back—and felt her face heat up a little, quickly averting her eyes when she realized she had been staring at him.

He reached down and picked up the books she had dropped and returned them to her as he said a final goodbye. She stood and watched him walk down the hall, and when he turned another corner she finally turned and walked quickly to her own class. She made it just in time, but for some odd reason she found her mind drifting off into a daydream more than once during the lecture.

Becky, who shared that class with her, had noticed her faraway looks, and when they had a break she asked, "What's on your mind? You seem so far away today, Liesl."

She replied as she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea, Becky, I… well, I guess I'm just… I don't know." She stopped her rambling and smiled sheepishly at her friend.

When Becky saw how flustered she was and the slight redness of her friend's cheeks, she squealed out in delight, "Oh, you've met someone, haven't you! Don't lie to me, I see that dreamy faraway look in your eyes. Colleen looks the same whenever she talks about Andrew. Who is he?"

Liesl was shocked Becky would think that. "NO! Oh no… I haven't met someone, not like _that!_ I'm not even looking right now—you know that!" She felt her own voice break and stutter. Why did she react like that?

Becky didn't believe her at all, and all the way to the cafeteria she kept trying to guess who Liesl had been fantasizing about. When they met up with Colleen, Becky couldn't keep her excitement at bay and insisted, "I think our friend here has met someone. Well, she denies everything but look at her!" She turned Colleen around so she could see Liesl, who rolled her eyes at her two friends and sat down determinedly to eat her lunch.

"Really! Hmmm, I wonder who it is…" Colleen gushed and started looking over the crowd of students, all eating and socializing. She turned back to Liesl and asked, "Who'd you run into?"

"I… well, I've only spoken with the two of you today and some of my classmates… but no one else." She hesitated a little when she recalled how she had literally run into _someone_ earlier that day. "Oh, well, I did run into your brother but… NO, it's not what you think. Absolutely not!" she exclaimed when she saw the surprised but also very excited looks on their faces. She tried her best to veer off from the topic and make them forget it all, but both girls started giggling.

"Okay, let's just leave it… please!" Liesl begged her friends. She really didn't want any form of relationship with a boy right now.

"Okay, okay, we'll leave it be. For now," Becky conceded and winked at Colleen, who kept on giggling.

The girls calmed down, and the conversation for the rest of the lunch break was filled with everything else but boys and possible love interests. But from time to time Colleen and Becky shared a few glances, mutually and silently agreeing the whole matter was still to be watched closely.

When school ended, the three friends sat outside the main building. Liesl waited for her father to pick her up, and Colleen and Becky waited for Matthew to come and drive them home.

Liesl looked at her watch and searched down the street for their car. Her father was always punctual, but today he was now ten minutes late. She started to worry and chewed nervously on her lip.

"Oh, don't worry, he'll be here soon," Colleen said to her friend. "My slow brother is late, too. Wonder what he's up to today."

The girls waited a few more minutes when a voice called out to them. "Miss von Trapp, I got a message from your father." A school secretary waved a piece of paper in front of her, and Liesl looked down and read, _Gone to the hospital with your mother. Baby is coming, don't worry, we got here in time. Please come here, too. Need a game plan for the rest of the family. Hope you can find someone who can drive you._

She felt her head start to spin at this news. Colleen held onto her arm and gently moved her to a nearby bench. Liesl started to mumble, "Oh, dear Lord, please let them be okay…" She looked at her friends and explained, "The baby isn't due until two weeks from now. It's too soon."

The secretary asked Colleen if they knew someone who could drive Liesl to the hospital. Colleen answered, "Oh, yes! My brother can do that—ah, he's finally decided to show up." She saw him walking slowly towards them.

Matthew knew he was late, but today he just didn't really care, especially knowing Colleen would tell him off for his lateness. But when he spotted the trio further down the path, he noticed their new friend Liesl seemed upset over something so, picking up his speed, he moved to their side.

"What happened?" He looked at the still-mumbling Liesl and then at his sister for answers.

"Her mother's at the hospital, in labor, and the baby isn't due for two weeks," Colleen explained and added, "Please drive her there. You can drop me and Becky off at the end of our road and take Liesl to the hospital from there. Please!"

He nodded his head, "Oh sure, I can do that. Come on, Liesl, let's get you to your family." He reached down and took her gently by the arm. She looked up into his blue eyes and smiled her thanks to him.

Colleen took her other arm, and together they got their friend to Matthew's car. Liesl did a double take when she saw his "car"—well, it was more a truck than a car, with only one front seat. Looking at the slightly beat up vehicle, she started to wonder if they could all fit into the cab.

Matthew walked over to the car, patted it gently on the hood, and said, "She doesn't look like much, but she takes me to wherever I need to go." He shrugged his shoulders; he had bought this truck when he got home after his one year away, after… The pain of loosing his love was still lurking under his skin. He shook the feeling way, trying to forget. Working a year at a ranch had given him some extra money, and now that he worked most weekends together with his father, he earned enough to keep the truck running. Although it still needed a bit of work here and there, the truck was _his_.

"Come on, let's get everyone inside, you first, Liesl." He led her to the truck, and when he noticed her uncertain look he reassured her, "I'm sure we can fit everyone in, don't worry."

When Liesl got into the truck, she heard Colleen and Becky giggle while they, too, got in. She sighed deeply thinking _this is going to be a long drive to the hospital_. And when she felt Matthew jump into the truck beside her and move close to her, she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Oh _yes,_ this was going to be a long, a _very_ long drive.

Now crammed between Colleen and Matthew, she felt herself grow even more self-conscious than ever before. Every time Matthew had to shift gears she felt his arms brush over hers, and at times his leg bumped up against her leg. Liesl tried not to focus on the butterflies starting to flutter in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the world around her.

"Enjoying yourself, Liesl?" Colleen whispered mischievously into her ear, not wanting Matthew to hear her.

She merely shot her friend a death stare and inhaled sharply when she felt Matthew's arm brush over hers once again. Colleen winked at her. She had a feeling that something wonderful was about to happen between her brother and her new friend.

Liesl shook her head. Apparently it amused her friends that she had _run into someone,_ and that _someone_'s being Colleen's brother only added to the excitement of it all. While trying to convince herself that she was _not_ interested in any form of relationship with any boy, she kept her eyes shut, trying to clear her head so she would be ready to help out her family.

**A/N: I'm not sure how long this will be, but I'm very open to ideas for something fun/interesting/romantic that could happen?**

**Please do review… would like to hear your thoughts about this one. ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This turned out a bit longer than the other chapters… hope you don't mind. ;)**

**Chapters One and Two have undergone some MAJOR editing, as I've found an awesome beta reader (LandoLady) who worked on those two chapters (and this one ;) ). She has worked on grammar and punctuation and everything in between… amazing. Thanks. **

Chapter 3

After Matthew had dropped off Colleen and Becky, Liesl quickly moved away from him. Sighing silently she kept looking out the window, her head filled with various worries, mainly concerning her mother and the baby. She cast a sideways glance at her driver and smiled to herself. It was very nice of Matthew to drive her to the hospital. When he turned his head towards her and saw her smile, he returned it. She averted her eyes and felt her cheeks get warm. Silently she begged for her composure to return to normal, but she started to feel a bit strange sitting there, in a car, with someone she really didn't know that much about. Only that he was Colleen's brother and a third-year law student.

"Thank you for driving me; it's a great help to me and my family. I… thank you," she said, trying to break the somewhat awkward silence that had come over the two of them since Colleen and Becky had been dropped off.

"Aw, well, it's nothing really. I'm happy to help out," he stated as he quickly looked at her again noticing her warm expression. He returned his focus to the road ahead of him and a few minutes later cleared his throat and said, "We're here now. I hope everything is okay with your mother and the new baby."

"Me, too, and thanks again." She moved to open the door and jumped out of the truck as Matthew walked around to the passenger side and approached her.

"Will you be okay from here?" he asked nervously. He found he really didn't want to say goodbye just yet and looked up at the hospital building when an idea came to him. "I could show you up to the maternity ward. I know where it is."

Liesl looked quite shocked at this information and exclaimed, "Why… why do _you_ know where the maternity ward is?" She tried not to smirk and give away her mirth over the whole situation.

He chuckled. He could see her confusion and explained, "Actually, my foster mother, Dr. Quinn, works there… Well, she's not working today, but she is one of the chief physicians there." She grinned in return. That did explain a lot.

"If it's not too much trouble, yes, please show me the way. I don't want to get lost going through that large building," she responded in gratitude.

He happily beckoned her to follow him. They walked in silence through the hallways of the hospital and ten minutes later arrived at the maternity ward. Liesl hurried over to the reception desk and asked for her parents, and the nurse directed her to where she could find them. She quickly walked down the hall and didn't even notice Matthew had followed her.

Further down the hallway she saw her father walking aimlessly around a small group of tables and chairs. He looked frazzled and nervous, his tie was hanging loosely around his neck, and his usually meticulously combed hair was in disarray. She walked to him quickly and burst out, "Father, I came as fast as I could. How is mother? Is she and the baby okay?"

Georg stopped his aimless wandering when he heard his daughter call out and quickly walked over to her and hugged her close. When he pulled away he smiled and said, "Yes, your mother is fine and so is the baby. It is only taking a bit long. Too long, if you ask me." He cast a longing look at the closed door and with a frustrated groan combed his fingers through his hair.

"I'm happy you managed to get here. I… we need to get the other children picked up. I think one of their teachers has taken them home with her. Here, I got the address somewhere." He searched his pockets and found a crumpled piece of paper. As he passed it to Liesl, she noticed his hands shaking a little. She reached out and squeezed them reassuringly.

Georg smiled his thanks to his daughter. Never had he imagined he would be this nervous when this baby was born. He had been through this seven times before!

"It will be fine, Father, and I'm sure Mother will do great. I can't wait to meet my new brother or sister," she said and then continued reassuringly, "Don't worry about the other children. I'll take care of them. We will pick them up and drive them home and make something to eat. Don't think about that."

Georg thanked his daughter again when it suddenly hit him that she had used the word _we._ He looked around confused and suddenly noticed a young man standing nearby. He had a flat cap on, but it didn't conceal the fact that he choose to wear his hair slightly longer than usual. Georg frowned slightly and cast his daughter a curious glance. Raising his eyebrows he asked, "Who is that?" as he angled his head towards the boy.

"Oh, this is Matthew. You remember I told you about his sister Colleen, my new friend? He has a car—he drove me here," she explained in a hurry. She could see her father wondering about him and how he fit into the picture. Silently she prayed that he wouldn't embarrass her with some overly protective fatherly advice about keeping company with unknown gentlemen. Before she started college he had given her a speech about that very subject. So she added for good measure, "He is a third-year law student. Now come and meet him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping me pick up the children."

She led her father over to Matthew, who gulped when he saw them approaching him. Her father looked slightly frightening in his fatigued state. He still wore his uniform jacket, and Matthew noticed his rank was captain. Within the seconds it took for them to come up to him, he had silently thanked God that he was _not_ under the command of Captain von Trapp.

"Father, this is Matthew Cooper." The younger man quickly took off his flat cap and moved his hand forward to greet Liesl's father. Georg took it as she went on, "Matthew, this is my father, Georg von Trapp." He held her friend's stare for several seconds, willing the young man to understand that he was a man _no one_ should even try to play games with.

Matthew smiled meekly at the imposing man in front of him and again swallowed hard. He cast a sideways glance at Liesl. She had noticed the tension oozing from her father, and she had a pretty good idea what he was thinking. Sighing to herself she turned to him and said, "Please, Father, you don't have to worry about me or the other children. You just need to be here for Mother when the baby comes. We'll be fine. Matthew will pick up the children with me." She looked back at her new friend trying to see if this was okay with him; he nodded in agreement. Then she continued, "And then I'll make a quick dinner for everyone."

The rational side of Georg won over, he nodded in agreement but in the next second began to shoot a series of questions at Matthew. "How long have you been driving a car?"

"Almost three years, sir… Captain," Matthew said in a shaking voice.

"Do you ever drive too fast?"

"No, Captain… sir. Never." Matthew shook his head.

"What kind of car do you have?"

"Uh, that is… My car is more of a pickup truck, really, sir… Captain, but…" Matthew felt heat coming to his face at the continued scrutiny from the Captain.

"A truck you say. Hmm. Do tell me how you think seven children could possibly fit into a truck," he demanded and looking over at Liesl asked her the same question. She bit her lip nervously and looked over at Matthew. They hadn't really thought about that.

"Well, I could sit with Gretl and Marta in the cab, and the others could sit out in the back." She smiled at her own idea, but her face fell when she saw the surprised look on her father's face.

Georg was torn. This young man seemed to be fairly decent, disregarding the too-long hair, and he was the brother of one of Liesl's new friends. But for several moments he was tempted to just go pick up the children himself. Yet he also wanted to be there for Maria. Sighing in open frustration he looked directly at Matthew and declared, "There will be _no_ speeding whatsoever when you drive with my children, understood?" He pointed his finger at the hapless student to underscore the seriousness of his demand.

Matthew only nodded his head repeatedly and finally whispered, "Yes, sir… No, sir… I mean… well, I can assure you I will drive safely."

"Good. Now, Liesl, please, I want to talk to you in private before you leave." He didn't even wait for her to respond but took her hand and led her further away from Matthew. She was rather surprised at this—what now? When he turned towards her she sighed audibly. She knew that look: it was the over-protective-father face.

He ignored her sigh and simply cautioned, "I'm not too fond of you driving around with a man you hardly know. But this is not a normal day, things have happened a bit out of plan, and we… I… must do things somewhat differently. I will call you later in the evening and let you know how things go here. Take care…" He looked over her shoulder towards Matthew, who shifted nervously on his feet trying not to look in their direction.

When Liesl noticed where her father was looking and saw the anxious look on his face, she wanted to ease his mind a little. "Father, you don't have to worry so much. Matthew is okay. His mother—well, foster mother really—she is one of the chief physicians here in the maternity ward. Think her name is Dr. Quinn, but she is not at work today, but you might meet her up here in the following days. So please don't be so hard on him, he is really only trying to help me… help _us_."

Georg nodded his head and sighed. This had been a long day, and now he required his children get home safely. He hugged his daughter and whispered, "Be careful."

"I will. You just concern yourself about Mother, and then I'll take care of the children." She took his hand and they walked over to Matthew. He had leaned up against the wall, but when he noticed them coming he quickly stood up and nervously wrung his flat cap in his hands. He was pretty sure the "father-daughter" talk had been about the two of them and the fact that they would be driving around alone together. He knew how things worked, and he knew it was not well accepted that young women drive with men they barely knew.

"Sir… Captain, don't worry. I won't… I'll drive safely," he asserted as they approached him. Still twisting his cap in his hands he suddenly remembered his manners and reached a hand out towards Georg and insisted, "Sir, I'll make sure your family gets home safely, I promise."

Georg took his hand and shook it. With a final steely grimace he said goodbye to Matthew and gave Liesl a hug and a light kiss on her cheek, thanking her for helping out with the children.

As they walked down the hall, she looked back towards her father saw he had returned to wandering aimlessly around the tables. She smiled to herself as she knew how very protective her father was of the people he loved, but at the moment his only concern was the safety of Maria and their unborn child.

Matthew had seen the look Liesl had sent her father. He could see the bond between the family members was strong. Just as it was in his own family, their having gone through troubled times had strengthened the connection between them all.

When they got into the pickup, Liesl handed over the piece of paper with the address and asked if Matthew knew where it was.

"Yeah, it's not that far away," he assured her and started the engine.

The drive to the teacher's house was done in silence. Liesl willed herself to keep looking out of the window and not at her driver. Because every time she did, he would look her way and grin, making her heart do a little flutter in her chest. She bit her lip, trying to make her mind think of other things.

Matthew noticed her nervousness, which made him inexplicably pleased. He was happy to help out her family, but most of all he was happy to be able to spend time with her. Liesl was a nice girl, and he hoped they could get to know each other better in the future.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the teacher's house. Liesl hurried out of the truck and ran up to the door. Matthew stayed behind, letting her get her family together. When the door opened he observed she was met with two young children jumping up and down in excitement. He smiled at the sight and saw the rest of the group pile out the door, followed by a middle-aged woman he assumed was the teacher.

"Thank you so much for taking the children home with you, Mrs. … I'm sorry, Father never told me your name," Liesl apologized, while she tried to calm her youngest sisters down.

"I'm Mrs. Brown, the teacher of these two." She pointed towards Marta and Gretl, who by now had calmed down and stood holding their sister's hands. Then she continued, "Don't worry about it; when I heard about your mother's going into labor, I wanted to help out. I called the hospital and talked with your father, and he told me what classes the other children are in. Then we walked here—it's not that far—and the children have been dears, all of them." At this, Liesl raised her eyebrows in surprise and shot a meaningful look at the direction of Louisa and Kurt, both known for their mischievous streaks, but they seemed to have behaved this afternoon. She smiled her gratitude to them.

Then she thanked Mrs. Brown several times more, while she tried to get the children to gather all their coats, schoolbags, and shoes so they could go.

"How will we get home, Liesl?" Brigitta asked. She knew their house was some distance away from their school.

"Oh, we'll drive," she replied absentmindedly while she tried to wrestle Gretl's foot into her shoe.

"You don't know how to drive…" Friedrich made the obvious known, trying to mock his sister.

"No, I don't. But he does," Liesl said and sighed in relief as the foot was finally in the shoe. She stood up and pointed out to the street where a young man stood beside his truck. Six pairs of eyes looked out, and he found himself scrutinized by every single one of Liesl's siblings. Six—the number was kind of overwhelming. He put on his best smile and waved up to them. The younger ones smiled back and waved as the older ones just kept staring, trying to figure out who this stranger was.

Liesl guided the group out the door, thanked Mrs. Brown a final time, and turned around to explain, "Everyone, this is Matthew. He is my friend Colleen's brother. You remember I talked about her, right?" Some of her siblings nodded. But Friedrich and Kurt had moved forward, now inspecting their ride for the day.

When Friedrich started to bang on the hood of the truck and looked doubtfully up at his sister, Liesl sighed and shook her head. He had showed an interest in all things concerning automobiles and electronics, and she knew what he was thinking. She looked pointedly at him, letting him know that he didn't need to comment on the state of the pickup. Matthew saw this and grinned, then turned to the younger teenager.

"I know she doesn't look like much, but she gets me where I need to go. If you want, we can take a look under the hood once we get you home." Matthew had sensed the boy had an interest in cars, and he looked over at Liesl trying to see if this would be okay with her. She smiled her thanks to him, and it seemed as if he at least had won one of her siblings over to his side.

The other children had gathered around the truck, and Kurt had looked inside the cab and then turned to his sister, "We won't fit everyone in there."

"No… but with the permission from Father, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, and Brigitta, you are allowed to sit in the back while we drive home," Liesl explained; however before the group of children got too excited she clarified, "but you will have to promise to _sit_ down at all times, no funny business or pranks or anything. _Sit_ down and enjoy the ride, understood?" She was quite pleased with herself as her strict tone of voice seemed to have made its point.

So Matthew helped the four children into the flatbed, while Liesl took care of the two youngest who were a bit grumpy at not having been allowed to sit in the back like their older siblings. But Liesl reasoned with them and explained that this was the way their father had wanted it.

When everyone was ready Matthew jumped up into the cab and drove slowly off. He smiled to himself. This group of siblings sure could talk a person's ear off, especially the two youngest who now entertained Liesl and him with various tales of their day in school. He tried to keep up with the conversation, while he took directions from Liesl to their home.

Within fifteen minutes they arrived at the house where the von Trapp family lived. It was a rather large home, slightly larger than the one Matthew had grown up in, but with seven children the extra rooms were needed.

The four children in the back were ecstatic over their ride, with faces red and their hair all mussed from the wind. Matthew helped them down and turned to Liesl. He didn't know what she had in mind now. He knew he was going to be late coming home to dinner at his foster parents', but he hoped Colleen had explained what had happened that day. And to be honest, he really didn't want to say goodbye just yet. He noticed Friedrich standing nearby, and Matthew remembered the promise he'd made him.

"Is it okay if I show your brother my old jalopy?" Matthew asked. "Then I'll be off. I don't want to bother you more than necessary."

"Oh, you're no bother at all! You've been a huge help today. Yes, please let Friedrich see it. He is _very_ interested in cars and electronics. He wants to be a mechanic or engineer," Liesl explained. She smiled at Friedrich, who had inched forward, and she could see he was very happy to be able to tinker with an old vehicle.

Then she shooed everybody else inside and started to prepare dinner. Deliberately she added a little extra, hoping to invite Matthew, too. She was not even sure her father would approve of this, but she wanted to thank her new friend somehow for the great help he had been.

She grinned while she looked out of the window where she could see Matthew and Friedrich looking under the hood. They seemed to talk very easily, and this cheered her very much as Friedrich had not found it easy to find friends here in America.

When she was almost finished with making the meal she called out the door announcing dinner was ready. While the two young men walked up to the house she tried to come up with some good way of inviting Matthew to stay without sounding too eager. She sighed. Why did it have to be so difficult? She was not even sure what she felt for him; everything seemed all jumbled inside of her. She only hoped he would accept her invitation since she really did want to spend more time with him. What could possibly go wrong? They were not alone per se; her siblings were there, too. She only hoped their father would not be too upset that she had invited a near-stranger to eat with them.

**A/N: I have several scenarios planned out, only need to organize it a bit better. If you got any ideas please let me know. Hopefully it wont take too long until next update… Please review… thanks**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, this turned out to be a bit of a crazy/family fun chapter with the von Trapp children at play here. They sort of "stole the scene" with the little ones unintentionally playing matchmaker.**

**Thanks to LandoLady for beta reading once again…**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

While Matthew and Friedrich cleaned themselves up after working on the truck, Liesl directed the others to the dining room. A little apprehensive, she turned to Matthew when he came in, chewed on her lip, and took a deep breath.

"Thanks again, Matthew, you've been a great help for us today. I do hope you didn't miss out on anything because of this." She gave him a small smile when he shook his head.

"Not at all… Well, I might be a bit late for family dinner," he admitted as he looked at his watch and shrugged his shoulders, "but don't worry. I'm sure Colleen's told them what happened, so they won't miss me, I'm sure." He didn't mind being late or missing dinner altogether since he was sure his family would understand. Living on his own, he knew they had gotten used to his sometimes skipping a planned family meal.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that… I… well… maybe… would you… that is—only if you want to—eat with us…?" she stammered and felt her face flush warm under his gaze.

Mathew chuckled at her hesitation; she was obviously very nervous about the whole thing—he was, too. But looking at her siblings in the background he saw no one objecting to this idea. The little girls seemed eager to have him join. He was someone new to tell tales to, and he could only assume they would be about fairies and princesses. His baby sister Katie was the same age, and she was obsessed with princesses. Friedrich looked happy, too. He had found someone to talk mechanics with, while his younger brother Kurt was more interested in nature and food.

Liesl looked back at her siblings as well, and when she saw that everyone seemed to like the idea of having Matthew as their dinner guest, she sighed in relief. Now she only hoped he would accept the invitation. When she saw him nod in consent she grinned widely. Then she quickly moved to the kitchen and got an extra plate and utensils.

As she came into the dining room she saw that Friedrich had placed an extra chair next to his seat and was pleased knowing her brother would get to talk more about what interested him with their new friend.

Within a short while everyone was seated, and Liesl looked to the other end of the table where Matthew was sitting. Friedrich had already occupied him with talk about cars. With a pleased look on her face she started to help her younger siblings get their dinner.

The talk around the table obviously turned to their parents and how soon their baby brother or sister would come. It had been a great debate in the family about what sex their new sibling would be, or what they wanted it to be. Most of the younger girls wanted a baby sister, but both Kurt and Friedrich argued that the family was in dire need of another boy.

When they were almost finished eating, the phone rang out in the hall, and Liesl quickly ran out to answer it. Within a few seconds everyone else scampered out to join her, all eager to hear news from their parents. Matthew smiled to himself—he was starting to become very fond of this family and hoped he would be able to spend more time with them. Looking out at the group, he realized that one person was the primary reason for this longing. She was currently speaking very hurriedly into the phone. When her smile widened and she looked at her siblings with joy in her eyes, they knew the baby had arrived.

She quickly ended her phone call and turned to the others and said, "We got a baby brother, he is doing fine, and so is Mother! Father will stay there until tomorrow, and he said that we can all stay home from school. He will pick us up, and we can all visit Mother and our new baby brother."

The joyous scene before Matthew was slightly chaotic. Everyone was ecstatic over this news, the boys mainly because they got the baby brother they wanted. The younger girls were almost squealing in delight, jumping up and down. Then the discussion about names started.

Liesl looked over at Matthew and smiled a little apologetically over the noise level, but he only grinned even more. He was pleased the news from the hospital had been wonderful.

After several minutes of lively talk among the von Trapp children, Liesl tried to get everyone to calm down. When she succeeded she ordered everyone into the dining room to finish up their dinner.

The joyous talk continued at the table, and everyone was excited about tomorrow when they would meet their new little brother.

When dinner was finished Liesl and Louisa cleaned up in the kitchen while the others went into the family room. Liesl wanted to finish up quickly because she knew the younger girls would soon be very tired. But Louisa was more interested in observing her older sister. She had noticed on several occasions her sister's composure had slipped when Matthew had looked at her or smiled. The girl started to add up the clues, and a huge grin spread over her face. She was fourteen years old and had only recently started to get remotely interested in anything girly, and that included boys.

Liesl sighed in frustration when she yet again caught her sister staring into nothing with a silly grin on her face.

"Why can't you concentrate? We have to finish here so we can get Gretl and Martha to bed. Please get your dreamy head out of the pink clouds and help me here," she implored and threw a washcloth over to her sister. She knew Louisa was starting to daydream more often, and she smiled as she remembered how she had been at that same age.

Louisa looked down at the washcloth in front of her and then looked up at her sister and blurted out, "Sooo, this Matthew, how well do you know him? He seems like a nice guy and he is quite dreamy, isn't he?" The last question was asked with amusement. She could clearly see her comments had ticked off her sister—her face was starting to go red, both from embarrassment and anger.

Liesl looked at Louisa with annoyance written all over her face. She had hoped her siblings would _not_ pick up on her—still chaotic—feelings about Matthew. She didn't know how to respond so she just pointed her finger at her sister and almost hissed, "Stay out of it, clean the table, and let's get the girls in bed."

"Uhhh, getting a bit touchy, eh… I knew it. You _like_ him, don't you? Oh, what will Father say to the fact that you let him stay over for dinner, keeping male company without their consent… I'm not sure he'd approve of it… well, everyone else seemed to be okay with it. And he is a nice guy… but Father… oh boy, you're in a lot of trouble." She grinned wickedly at her now flustered sister.

"Will you just shut up already? It's nothing like that. I… we… I'm not even interested in _that_ right now. You know that. I don't want to talk about it. I'll deal with Father tomorrow. Stay out of it, okay?" she admonished her in a hurry. She was angry with her sister but also with herself. How could she have shown her feelings so openly? She sighed and hoped their father would not ground her forever for inviting Matthew for dinner. She knew her father didn't approve of her spending time in male company without their knowing about it first. But in her defense, she reasoned inside her head, they hadn't been entirely alone. They had eaten dinner with everyone else; she hoped this argument would work on her father.

Louisa snickered to herself while she finished up cleaning the table. Then the two of them walked into the family room. The sight that greeted them was comical in every way. It seemed as if the youngest von Trapp girls had wanted to play some form of fairytale story before bedtime. Everyone wore some form of costume or hat indicating their role in it. Kurt had a chef's hat, Friedrich wore a king's crown, Brigitta and Marta wore pointed fairy hats, and Gretl was a princess. Matthew had obviously been dubbed the prince. He now wore a handmade paper crown with fake glittery stones glued on it, and the girls had even managed to find some form of royal cape.

Liesl tried not to laugh out loud and placed a hand over her mouth stifling the mirth she felt bubbling inside her. When everyone saw Louisa and her come into the room, they were met with a gleeful Gretl. "Look, Liesl, we play fairy tale. Matthew is the prince… see, he wears the crown I made in school." Liesl looked over at Matthew and cast him an apologetic look, still trying to hide her amusement over the whole scene. He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, letting her know he really didn't mind.

Louisa half-whispered into her sister's ear, "Ah, I would more say he is Prince _Charming_, would you not? Eh, Liesl?" She cast her younger sister a look that clearly told her _not_ to continue her train of thought. But Louisa grinned cheekily and turned to her sisters and pronounced, "Well, I want to be the wicked witch that turns the prince into a frog. The spell will only end when he is kissed by the princess." Gretl jumped up and looked into the huge bag that held her playthings and costumes. She soon found a wand and a witch's hat and turned to Liesl with a thoughtful look on her face, clearly trying to come up with what role Liesl should be.

Louisa whispered to her younger sister, "Liesl wants to be the princess so she can kiss Prince Charming," and when she was met with a doubtful look from Gretl she explained, "I know you're a princess, too… but she could be your older sister." When she still didn't budge Louisa added, "Well, you can both kiss the prince." This made Gretl happy, and she sprang to her bag of costumes.

When she walked over to her eldest sister with yet another princess crown, she was met with a fuming Liesl, who cast angry stares at Louisa. Gretl yanked at her oldest sister's dress, trying to get her attention.

Liesl bent down and reluctantly let Gretl put on the princess crown. She hoped Matthew had not heard one word of her sisters' whispers. She only did this to make her little sister happy and wished this soon would be over so they could put them to bed.

When Liesl stood up again she cast a shy glance toward Matthew. He seemed relaxed as if this whole bizarre fairytale setup didn't bother him at all. He grinned at her, and when she threw him an apologetic look and slightly rolled her eyes he laughed and allowed, "Well, there is a first time for everything… but remember I, too, have a baby sister. She just turned four years old so I know everything there is to know about fairy tales and how things work in them. So don't worry too much about it—I really don't mind at all."

Then the over-imaginative Gretl continued her fairytale story, and Liesl soon realized the girl had a rather impressive storyline set up. As far as she could follow, there had been a great party in celebrating the birthday of the young princess. The cook (Kurt) had made all of her favorite food. The two fairies (Brigitta and Marta) had cast good luck charms on the princess. Now with a witch in the play the prince was magically transformed, and Matthew stole the show with his rather impressive impersonation of a croaking frog.

The younger girls squealed in delight over his antics, and when he looked over at Liesl he saw that she, too, seemed to enjoy his little act. He beamed and gave her small wink, making her blush slightly. When Louisa started to giggle Liesl turned to her sister and gave her warning glare. Louisa turned to Gretl and casually asked, "So when is the prince going to turn into a prince again? He needs a kiss from the princesses." She pointed to Gretl and then at Liesl, including her in the princess roles.

Liesl sighed and conceded, "Go on, Gretl, go kiss the prince and turn him into a prince again." She really yearned for this to be over soon, but when her baby sister walked over to her and took her hand to pull her over towards Matthew she knew it wouldn't end like she wanted.

"You princess, too, remember, we both kiss prince. The wicked witch made double spell on him. It's tricky so he needs two kisses," she stated firmly and pulled on her sister's hand even more. Liesl groaned inwardly. She could see Gretl wouldn't budge on this one. She cast a glance around at her siblings. Her brothers held their laughter inside, but she could see the mirth in their eyes. Louisa and Brigitta giggled, while both Marta and Gretl now urged her openly.

She looked at Matthew trying to gauge what his thoughts were on this matter. He sat on the couch and looked calm and relaxed over the whole thing. When he saw her worried look he shrugged his shoulders and responded, "What can we do? I'm still a frog—you heard how the wicked witch cast a double spell."

When Liesl finally moved to sit next to him she placed herself as far away from him as she could. She was not even sure she wanted to do this and looked pleadingly at her sisters hoping they would drop the whole thing. But both Marta and Gretl had jumped up on the couch and parked themselves on the other side of Matthew. Gretl then sat up on her knees, leaning her hands on his shoulders. She looked over at Liesl and gave her a pointed stare that told her sister to get moving.

Liesl shook her head and whispered, "Alright, let's get this over with." Then she leaned over to Matthew and placed a quick, light kiss on his cheek. His skin felt warm under her lips, and she was suddenly very much aware of what position she was in, and how close she was to Matthew—nearer even than they had been sitting in his truck earlier that day.

With all this swirling in her mind she pulled away abruptly and moved further away from him, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. She fiddled nervously with her fingers and glanced over at him. He had just received his second kiss, a very sloppy one, from Gretl, who now happily announced that the prince was finally a prince again. The girls clapped in delight and jumped up and down.

Finally pulling herself together Liesl stood up and announced it was bedtime. This information was met with several groans of protest. But she insisted it was now far beyond their usual bedtime and they really needed the rest so they could be ready to meet their new baby brother.

Matthew stood up as well, took off his prince crown and cape, and agreed, "I think I'll be going now and leave you to get these fairies and princesses to bed." He winked at Gretl, who still sat next to him, and she gave him a huge grin. She had obviously liked that he had joined in on her little game.

"Yes, and thank you once again for driving me…us… eh…" Liesl stammered slightly and tried to come up with something coherent to say. When she heard Louisa and Brigitta start to giggle she looked over at them and saw them with heads close together, having obviously whispered something to each other. Liesl sighed deeply, walked over to them, and ordered, "Girls, please get upstairs now and please take Gretl and Marta with you." She turned to her brothers. "Would you please help them get everyone upstairs? I'll just walk Matthew out, and then I'll come up and help you."

Louisa and Brigitta kept their heads close together, still whispering. Friedrich and Kurt took it upon themselves to guide the two youngest girls upstairs. Liesl smiled her thanks to them.

Matthew moved out into the hallway and found his flat cap, then turned towards Liesl. He wasn't sure how to say goodbye. He was uncertain whether it would be permissible to ask to see her again, maybe even alone.

"You have a really nice family…" he tried vaguely as he twisted his cap in his hand.

"Thank you." She averted his eyes and felt her face blush under his stare.

She looked back at him and suddenly noticed a small sparkly stone from the prince's crown that had fallen off and was still hanging in his hair. Without giving it much thought she stepped closer and reached up to retrieve it. Her fingers felt the softness of his hair, and when she suddenly became aware of his breath gently caressing her face she pulled away quickly and aimlessly waved the rhinestone in the air, trying to apologize, "Eh, this…" she showed him the stone, "this… was in your hair. Sorry… I… well…" She gave up and lowered her eyes.

"Thank you, guess the magic of the fairy tale didn't wear off completely," he chuckled. He'd been slightly shocked to see her step so close to him. In the shortest of moments it took for her to capture the errant rhinestone, he had suddenly felt a surge within of longing to move closer to her. But he kept himself still, not wishing to scare her off, but the scent of her perfume still lingered in his nostrils. He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to get his bearings again, scratched nervously behind his ear, and looked down at her.

"I, well, I know we haven't… I… We don't know each other that well, yet… but maybe… if you want to… we could do something together… soon," he stammered and ran a nervous hand through his hair. This was turning out to be more difficult than he had imagined. It had been far too long since he had asked a girl this question. For a second he felt the pain of losing Ingrid a year-and-a-half ago, still feeling the wound in his heart. But as he looked over at Liesl he felt his heart beat a little faster and found himself hoping they could get to know each other more.

She had noticed the various emotions running over his features, and she saw the short moment of pain in his eyes. She had heard about Ingrid, and she knew he had been devastated by the loss of his fiancée. She, too, carried some scars in her heart and suddenly felt rather connected to the man in front of her so she found herself responding, "I think I would like that, yes."

His eyes lit up and he agreed, "That sounds wonderful… I… well… we could go somewhere this weekend, if you're free, that is."

"Hmm, yes, that would be lovely. But I must speak with Father and Mother—he wants to know who I socialize with…" She smiled apologetically and explained, "I think he thinks that all American men are scoundrels or something. He gave me a huge lecture on the subject just before I started college." She produced a strangled laugh, remembering the rather embarrassing talk she had had with her father. Thankfully her mother had been present as well.

Matthew gulped slightly when she mentioned her father, the image of the imposing Captain von Trapp he had met at the hospital passing before his mind's eye. He could only imagine with trepidation a man like him wanting to know whom his daughter associated with.

Liesl had seen his worry and tried to calm him down. "Don't worry, I'm sure he wont mind, he already met you after all. You got his family home safely—that has to count for something. Don't you think?" She smiled at him and continued when he nodded, "I'll talk with him tomorrow, and then we could meet up in school the day after. Would that be alright?"

"Yes… sure… I'll see you Friday then. Bye." He reached out to her in a polite gesture, and without thinking she took his proffered hand. When she felt his warm skin against her own, she was shocked to feel sparks shoot up her arm. She looked down in wonder at their clasped hands and realized she hadn't pulled away from him. With their connection still unbroken they looked into each other's eyes, and time suddenly stood still for the two young people. Blue eyes met blue eyes, one hurt heart reached out to the other hurt heart.

Suddenly the bubble around them burst when they heard giggling coming from upstairs. Liesl pulled away from him and whipped around to look up angrily at her siblings. She saw all the girls peek down at them through the banister, while the boys lingered in the back, appearing not to be interested in what happened downstairs, but she saw their pointed stares at Matthew.

She sighed in frustration—it appeared her brothers and sisters just wouldn't leave her alone on this. Glaring up at them she commanded everyone go to their own rooms. As they scurried away from the banister, even more giggles were heard from the girls, and Liesl knew she was in for some questions later.

"I'm sorry about that, they… are, well, just annoying, really." Liesl tried to explain, but when she saw the knowing grin on his face she remembered that he, too, had noisy younger siblings.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be questioned about _everything_ that happened today by Colleen. And even Katie might want to know a few details. I imagine when she hears you got a baby brother she'll want to know everything about him. She is a bit obsessed really, about becoming a big sister." He laughed at this. The past few months Katie had pretty much asked her parents every day when she would become a big sister. Much to the annoyance of his foster parents.

Liesl grinned and was very pleased that he understood how she felt. Suddenly they both fell silent as neither one of them knew what else to say. They stood like that for several moments, until Matthew finally put on his cap, gave a small wave of his hand, and said, "Guess I better go now. I'll see you Friday at school." She moved to open the door for him, and when she had said her goodbye she kept looking out of the door while he walked to his truck. Halfway there he turned and waved again, his smile wide and full of hope of their meeting again soon. She waved back and leaned her head on the door frame. She was still slightly confused by her own feelings at the moment, but deep down in herself she recognized an emotion she had thought to be gone forever.

When his car finally drove off she reluctantly moved inside and closed the door behind her. She stood still, her body leaning back against the door, trying to get her own feelings under control. She knew she had started to like Matthew—now she only hoped her family, her father primarily, would approve of this. Knowing how little he had thought of her relationship with Rolf, she feared it would be difficult to convince him it was a good idea for her to spend time with Matthew. She only hoped her mother would see how important to her he was becoming and she would help make her case.

Liesl was pulled out of her reveries when she heard a loud cry from upstairs. From the sound of it, it seemed Brigitta and Kurt had started a fight over something. Moaning in defeat she moved upstairs and prepared for the battle ahead.

An hour later she was finally alone in her own room. Getting the younger children to bed had proven to be a difficult task. Everyone was excited about their new baby brother, and they had a hard time calming down and going to sleep. It had taken two bedtime stories before the youngest finally closed their eyes. Now Liesl lay in her own bed rethinking everything that had happened all day. With butterflies still fluttering in her stomach she fell into a dream-filled sleep, a slight grin played around her lips. She had to admit she couldn't wait to see Matthew again the following Friday.

**A/N: Okay, yet another longish chapter. Thanks for reviewing this… **

**Up next: the dreaded talk with her Father. How will that go…?**

**FYI: I got something interesting brewing in my head for future chapters… it won't just be a sappy love story ;) There will be some drama/angst… (The idea is still a work in progress, but follow my story and you'll find out what I have planned for this.)**


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